As many as 10,000 tickets remain unsold for the highlight of the Pope’s visit
to Britain this week, the Church has admitted.

Officials concede that fewer people than expected will watch Benedict XVI beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman at a park in Birmingham on Sunday.

But they blamed the early start, with pilgrims having to leave home at 2am in order to board official coaches heading to the venue, rather than the £25 cost of tickets.

The Roman Catholic Church of England and Wales remains confident that the first-ever state papal visit to Britain will prove a success, and is even marshalling volunteers to man the phones in case people want to convert after this week’s event.

However another high-profile protest is now being planned, with the Rev Ian Paisley leading a delegation from the Free Presbyterian Church to Edinburgh.

The veteran Northern Ireland politician, now Lord Bannside, said the 60-strong group would demonstrate in Edinburgh out of concern towards children abused by Catholic priests. He protested during the visit to Britain of the previous Pope, John Paul II, and once denounced him as the Antichrist in the European Parliament.

It emerged on Monday that the Government has set aside £10million to pay for the four-day trip, excluding security, with the Foreign Office paying the first £750,000 and the remainder split between five Whitehall departments whose interests are supposed to link to those of the Holy See.

Depending on the final bill, up to £1.85m will be spent by each of the Department for International Development; the Department for Education; the Department for Energy and Climate Change; the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and the Department of Communities and Local Government.

The Church must contribute a further £10m to cover the costs of the three outdoor “pastoral” events, but has so far only found £6.2m because of disappointing ticket sales.

Initially the beatification Mass for Cardinal Newman, the Victorian theologian who crossed over to Rome, was to be held in Coventry Airport, which could hold as many as 200,000 people.

But it was later scaled back to Cofton Park, Birmingham, and although the capacity was first put at 80,000 only 50,000 tickets – known as “pilgrim passes” – have been sold through parishes around the country. The church now claims at most 60,000 could have attended.

"It is still not as many as expected, although it's pretty full," said Jack Valero, spokesman for the Newman Cause.

He denied that the £25 cost of a ticket, to cover transport and security, had put people off and instead blamed the fact that those attending must arrive on site several hours before the 10am start on Sunday.

"The problem is that everybody has to be there very early so for most people around the country, they have to leave (home) at 2am or 3am, so it has put some people off," he said.

The first outdoor event, in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, for which tickets cost £20, is also far from being sold out but the £5 prayer vigil in Hyde Park, London, is close to capacity.

Tickets were allocated to dioceses around the country and applicants had to designate a parish group for security reasons, and the complex administration has also been blamed for slow sales. Many of the unsold tickets are now being redistributed or given to schools.

The Papal Visit Coordinator, Mgr Andrew Summersgill, said that the Church is prepared for members of the public making contact to learn more about the faith following the Pontiff’s visit.

“The Catholic Enquiry Office, which does regularly receive enquiries about the faith during the year, has put together a volunteer team covering every diocese of England and Wales. It is based across the country and what they're trying to do is to be there to be available for people who have enquiries about the Church and the faith as a result of the Papal Visit, and it’s intended that they'll be available from now up until towards the end of September.”

In an attempt to capitalise on the Olympic Games coming to London in 2012, it has emerged that one of the events during the visit will see 32 Catholic schoolchildren making a “sporting pledge” in front of the Pope.

Benedict XVI will launch a John Paul II Foundation for Sport during the event at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, while Brian Kidd, the Manchester United legend, will light an Inauguration Candle.

Britain's most senior Catholic, Cardinal Keith O'Brien said the moral value of the papal visit "far outweighs any cost value".

"It improves morality in the Catholic Christian community. It will outweigh any fears, any worries, any depression that folk might feel about the cost. I look forward to it very, very positively," he told a press conference in Scotland.